Bartlett & West to pursue wastewater grant for the city of Linn

By Theresa Brandt, Staff Writer
Posted 9/23/20

LINN — Linn aldermen last Tuesday voted to have Bartlett & West Engineering pursue a wastewater regionalization grant from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the LeMar …

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Bartlett & West to pursue wastewater grant for the city of Linn

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LINN — Linn aldermen last Tuesday voted to have Bartlett & West Engineering pursue a wastewater regionalization grant from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the LeMar Subdivision off Hwy. 89.
The subdivision contains 17 homes that use two lagoons which are not permitted with DNR.
“Eligible projects include ‘permitted systems that are failing and those that should be permitted,’” Bartlett & West Engineer Gary Davis told aldermen. “I was like that is exactly what this is.”
The DNR grant Davis would like to pursue for LeMar Subdivision is the same program that recently awarded a 100% grant to Linn for the Jaegers Subdivision. The grant would cover 100% of the design and construction of the project if building a treatment plant for the 17 homes would be less than or equal to the cost of extending the city sewer to them.
“We have already reached out to DNR,” Davis said. “DNR is aware of the situation and they think it is a good candidate for the grant program as well.”
Utilities Supervisor Larry Fredrich noted that DNR had discussed the plan with him and had preliminarily decided that it was going to be more efficient to do a gravity line that would hook up to the city’s sewer system.
To apply for the DNR grant, homeowners would have to create a homeowner’s association (HOA), which would have only the cost of filing with the Secretary of State.
“I know that some of the discussion has been who is going to own that plant,” Mayor Dwight Massey said. “(The property owners) are assuming that the HOA is going to take it but right now the collection points are not on any of the homeowners’ property, they are on private individual properties. Is the HOA going to buy property to locate the plant and who is going to run it? I mean they are going to have to factor in operating cost as well.”
“And we all know that is not the best choice,” Davis added.
“And it is not what Homeowners Associations want to do,” City Attorney Kent Brown said.
“There is an additional benefit to this,” Davis said. “It opens up the entire area for sewer development and it would allow you to delete an existing pump station which needs to be deleted. And it would also be a gravity flow system.”
“Really, this is pretty exciting,” Davis said. “(Linn) was one of a handful of areas that got the grant last year and I can’t believe that here we are with another one right here in Linn. If they will pay 100% of the design and construction, we should take it.”
Aldermen agreed to pay a fee of up to $5,000 to Bartlett & West to work up the report and submit the application, which is due by New Year’s Eve, with grants to be awarded in April of 2021.
There is a ZOOM meeting scheduled for Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. by DNR for the homeowners. Aldermen and engineers are invited to join in to discuss options.
In other business with Bartlett & West, aldermen were updated on progress on the Jaegers Wastewater Regionalization Project.
Bartlett & West Engineer Hope Drennen noted that the exact location of the gravity main has been determined within the Jaegers Subdivision. The line will travel along Hwy. 100 and was coordinated with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Osage Nation Tribe. An area of concern by the Osage Nation Tribe has been easily avoided.
Although Bartlett & West is writing the easements, the firm may need some help in coordinating and talking to area landowners.
Bartlett & West has not yet decided between a two- and three-inch forced main for the sewer. “We’ve had several conversations with pump manufacturers, and they said that with the number of houses along Highway 100, they thought either a two-inch or three-inch forced main would not be an issue,” Drennen reported.
Each house will need a grinder pump installed on their property and tagged into the forced main. The grinder pumps would need to be purchased by the homeowners with a cost estimate of $3,600 for the grinder pump.
“That sounds like a lot but when you compare that to the cost of septic systems right now it’s pretty reasonable,” Drennen said. “With the rocky terrain, septic systems can run pretty high, and of course, this gets the entire system off of your property and moves it to the city’s sewer, which is another benefit.”
The project is currently on schedule with no areas of major concerns.
In other business, aldermen approved the second payment to MLM Landscaping and Construction LLC for $66,524.46. Construction on First and Fifth streets is continuing, with the main concern being the schedule.
“As you all know it needs to be done by deer season,” Davis said. “That’s the contract and so it’s still feasible. We did talk to the contractor and they are still committed to completing it by November 13, hoping for good weather.”
Bartlett & West Engineer Patty Lemongelli is the construction observer on the project and she has been happy with the quality of the work.
Davis noted that speed bumps are in place at Maguire Park.
“I was down there at Maguire Park today working and it looked like Highway 50 there were so many cars going through there,” Fredrich said. “Some people are complaining because they are dragging (over the speed bumps) but if they weren’t trying to do 35 or 40 miles per hour through there they wouldn’t drag.”
The city is planning on putting trash bags over the “No Through Street” signs to avoid confusing drivers who are taking the detour.
Davis noted that he was not happy with the dust control on the road but Fredrich said that nothing had been applied to the road as yet to avoid killing the grass in the area.
* Davis also addressed concerns the mayor and aldermen expressed at the last meeting regarding the wastewater report that has recently been submitted to DNR.
Massey and Fredrich had voiced frustrations that the equipment and replacement parts become obsolete on systems long before the equipment is paid off. Sometimes equipment becomes outdated so quickly it is impossible to find replacement parts.
Davis noted that this is an ongoing issue for a lot of municipalities. There is an option to build the equipment with non-proprietary hardware so that individual pieces can be replaced as needed and that software could just be upgraded eliminating the need to find hard-to-replace parts.
“But I will say that when you build on your own it is going to cost you more,” Davis warned.
He also noted that Bartlett & West is looking into finding components with extended warranties that would cover the suggested life of the equipment and service agreements with the manufacturers that would cover parts and services.